.. My '65 Bird's batery dies if I leave it connected overnight, and i can't figure out what's killing it.. what are the steps nessasary to track down the draw? At first I thought it was the starter cellanoid, because it was sticking closed, but that problem is solved and it's still happening. Anyway, how do I track it down? Spike
the 65 I had was a wiring nightmare.these cars had so much crap on them it would be hard to track everything down.even the rear wires run through the headliner! know how it feels to get a car with a good headliner and have to take it down.I love the lines of these cars but will never own another one because of the wiring deal.even the cozy wing are electric.crazy.sorry know that didn't help but I had to rant a bit
Here's how I do it : first establish that there is a draw by removing the positive battery cable and lightly touch the (now loose) plus cable to the plus side of the battery. This should make a pretty good spark if you have a draw that is big enough to kill the battery overnight. Small accessories like a clock will make a fairly small spark by comparison. Next; if there was a good spark, you need to find which circuit is causing the problem. The easiest way to do this is to remove all of the fuses and reinstall them one at a time - each time trying the battery cable "spark test" Once you find the offending circuit, hopefully you can locate the stuck relay or whatever that's doin' it. Hell, you can leave the fuse out at night and drive the thing for years. If none of these fused cicuits are causing the current draw, you have a problem with an unfused circuit. There probably aren't many, but you need a schematic to figure out if the horn or whatever isn't fused. Finally; I have done all of this and discovered that the problem was a screw that the interior guy ran through the interior trim right into the wiring harness, so keep an open mind as to what is the problem/fix!
mrkerb is right on track! I want to add one thing.... the alternator is a large unfused circuit. If you put a fully charged battery in the car and the alternator gets warm (without running the car) thats a big clue. You could also disconnect the hot wire from the alternator and see if the battery stays charged. Be careful if you do this.. that big alternator wire will be live and you will have to find a way to insulate it so it doesn't burn your car to the ground. Another bizzare test is to see if the alternator is generating a magnetic field while the car is shut off... place a screwdriver next to the body and see if the alternator has a magnetic field. Make sure the screwdriver is made out of some sort of ferrous metal... I had one that a magnet wouldn't attract... I don't know what that one was made from.. The theroy is that if the coils inside the alternator are energized (the "DRAW") it will create a magnetic field. It shouldn't do this if the motor isn't running. Be careful sparking battery cables on posts... thats how those things blow up.. don'tcha know
Alternator is new..but that's not to say that a "new" one can't be bad right out of the box! I have tried taking off the positive battery cable while the car is running, and it stays running, so I have all but ruled that out. the battery is charging when running. Also, the spark is a healthy one when I touch the positive battery cable to the post. Spike
To avoid the sparking issue just get a 12v test light. They are pretty cheap ( I got one at the dollar store!) If you remove the negative battery terminal and set the light across from the cable to the post , if there is a significant draw then the light will burn. You then just pull fuses and disconnect cables till the light goes out. Then just figure what that wire or fuse does and that will point you to the trouble area. The old car manual project site has wiring diagrams up til '65 for Fords. Download the T bird pages. http://www.tocmp.com/ http://www.tocmp.com/tOCMP/wiring/5765wiring%20diagrams/fordindex.htm Good Luck Stu
Good advice on checking the alternator. For fun, check that the trunk light isn't staying lit when the trunk is closed (seems like I had a car that did that a long time ago).
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